Review of Italy and the Greek Isles - 30th June on Reflection

[Les43]

We have just returned from this 10 day cruise which took in Sicily (Messina), Malta, Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini, Athens and Naples and I thought I would offer our thoughts. Very happy to answer any questions if i can too.

 

We decided to do 4 nights in Rome and the night before in Civitavecchia which turned out to be a great plan. We stayed in Relais Giulia which is very close to the Vatican and it was an excellent small boutique hotel. We got the train to Civitavecchia which was very easy and then stayed in the Alibrandi Palace in Civitavecchia which worked out fine for one night.

 

We arrived at the port by shuttle (organised by the hotel) around 10.30am and it was a very smooth embarkation process. We were on the ship within 15 minutes which was amazing. We went up to the Sunset Bar until it was time for some lunch. We decided to have lunch around 12.15 as there had been an announcement that staterooms would be ready from around 12.30pm. We ate in the Oceanview Grill and the food was excellent. This is my third cruise and I must say that I was consistently impressed with the quality of the food here despite the vast quantities they have to prepare. Staterooms were ready as promised which again I thought was very impressive in terms of turnaround! We were in Aqua Class (A1) - room 2107 which is next to the Canyon Ranch Spa. An ideal room at the end of the corridor and next to suites with a massive bulk head balcony.

 

Overall, we were very pleased with the service on board. Staff were friendly and pleasant but not in your face. We are not keen on the OTT type of service which others may prefer so this suited us really well.We ate in the MDR and had fantastic service from our waiter and assistant waiter. My only observation was that they (and our stateroom attendant) seemed very anxious about the Celebrity survey and the implication that anything less than full marks has a significant impact on their gratuities.I thought this was a shame and very evident that they really rely on tips.

 

The pool areas were generally very busy and as ever mobbed on sea days. We chose to use the Solarium and on both days managed to find loungers. Pool Butlers were helping guests where loungers had been reserved for longer than 30 mins and there were 'warnings' given that your items would be taken to Guest relations!

 

We had a Premium Drinks package which we really enjoyed. We did notice quite a bit of 'hard sell' on the first day to get people to upgrade but it did not affect us and we really enjoyed the freedom to have what we wanted when we wanted it.

 

In terms of ports, we went ashore on each occasion. Apart from Santorini and Athens we did our own thing by just wandering around the town or in naples where we caught the boat to Sorrento. Doind our own thing worked really well apart from Messina which was slightly disappointing and we wished we had done a tour.

We did the half day Island Celebrity tour to Oiea, wine tasting and Fira in Santorini and it wasn't great. This was because the traffic on the island was a nightmare and we spent most of the time in the coach trying to get there, get back or in the hour long queue for the cable car on the way back. I have read other reviews where folks loved this tour so perhaps we were unlucky - it was a mad rush in the village and at the wine tasting. We did the HOHO bus in Athens from the port and it worked out well.It was so hot that day that it was good to go and see the sights and come back to the air conditioning.

 

Other points that may be of interest - the Evening Chic nights (there were 2) were on the Sunday (after Malta) and on our second sea day (Saturday) . Whilst some people did dress up, the vast majority did not and I was surprised at how casual some were. Tuxes and gowns were by far in the minority.

 

We did not go to any of the big shows but we did enjoy some of the live music - especially Rick and Zoe the guitar and vocal duo.

 

Disembarkation was very swift and we organised our own luggage as we had an early taxi.

 

Overall, a really excellent cruise which we would recommend. We booked another cruise for next summer whilst on board and are already looking forward to the Riviera and Mediterranean on Connie next Sept.

 

Lesley

[Rami077]

Thank you so much for doing the review. We are looking at this itinerary for next year. Could you comment on the excursions or tours that you did? Are many of the stops easy to do on your own? We don't care for the ship's excursions and like to hear what other cruisers do on their own.

 

Thanks

[Barwick Cruiser]

We've never stayed in an Aqua Class cabin and probably the only reason we would pay so much extra would be to eat in Blu...why did you eat in the MDR? Just curious...

[Les43]

As far as the ports go, they were very easy to do on your own. We only did the two excursions in Santorini and the HOHO bus in Athens.We wishes we had done Santorini on our own. In all other cases, you can get off the ship and wander. We got the Hydrofoil to Sorrento which was also easy to do on our own.

[Les43]

We got a great deal for the Aqua class cabin that included a large number of perks otherwise we wouldn't have done it either. We went to look at the Blu menu a few times for dinner and my OH (who is very fussy) wasn't keen on the choices. We did not get up early enough to try Blu or the MDR for breakfast this time!

[Taylor D]

Nice quick review we are doing this same cruise next July 20th. We were on the Connie last July and loved it.

[pl281]

We were on this cruise as well.... I have a thread for a review as well and will be posting excursion reviews (we did all via Celebrity)

I will agree that the Santorini & Village of Oia was a bit disappointing - it was about 60+ minutes to Oia (with about 20 minutes just sitting in traffic) - the guide took us to the "square" and said ok you have an hour to be back at the bus - then to the wine tasting - 30-45 minutes be back to bus..... drop us off in town (steep walk to town) - 15 minute walk to cable cars

 

Line for cable cars when we were there at 4pm was about 30-40 minutes.

[FiggyWig]

We will be doing this itinerary in September, and it must just be something about the area but we have been to ALL ports at least once before on our previous cruises and with the exception of a Celebrity tour up Vesuvius last time, ALL ports days on ALL cruises were DIY.

 

Every where is reasonably easy to do on your own if you give it enough research in advance. Search the internet for places of personal interest, search Cruise Critics and its friend Trip Adviser for people who have 'been there, done that', seek out train / bus times and just (most importantly) make sure you don't cut it fine returning to ship:eek:

 

We've had the best time and seen so much this way... and its the most economical option - even better than arranging private tours or taxis. OK - if you want a guide to tell you all about it then maybe you want a private tour, but they don't come cheap even if you share with others... and then you are always restricted in falling in with others plans. In our opinion DIY is the only way to go.

 

My task this time is to find places to visit that we haven't yet been too...Planning is all part of the fun !

 

OP - you said you took the hydrofoil to Sorrento - this is something I have been considering, or to Capri but have read that the Bay of Naples can be a bit bouncy shall we say. Is this something you discovered, how long was the crossing ?

 

Fig

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[tuffy0317]

My only observation was that they (and our stateroom attendant) seemed very anxious about the Celebrity survey and the implication that anything less than full marks has a significant impact on their gratuities.I thought this was a shame and very evident that they really rely on tips

 

I'm just off Solstice in Alaska (our fourth Celebrity cruise) and felt the exact same way.

[easyboy]

Glad you had an excellent experience.Thanks for the feedback.

[eileenover]

We have just returned from this 10 day cruise which took in Sicily (Messina), Malta, Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini, Athens and Naples and I thought I would offer our thoughts. Very happy to answer any questions if i can too.

 

We decided to do 4 nights in Rome and the night before in Civitavecchia which turned out to be a great plan. We stayed in Relais Giulia which is very close to the Vatican and it was an excellent small boutique hotel. We got the train to Civitavecchia which was very easy and then stayed in the Alibrandi Palace in Civitavecchia which worked out fine for one night.

 

We arrived at the port by shuttle (organised by the hotel) around 10.30am and it was a very smooth embarkation process. We were on the ship within 15 minutes which was amazing. We went up to the Sunset Bar until it was time for some lunch. We decided to have lunch around 12.15 as there had been an announcement that staterooms would be ready from around 12.30pm. We ate in the Oceanview Grill and the food was excellent. This is my third cruise and I must say that I was consistently impressed with the quality of the food here despite the vast quantities they have to prepare. Staterooms were ready as promised which again I thought was very impressive in terms of turnaround! We were in Aqua Class (A1) - room 2107 which is next to the Canyon Ranch Spa. An ideal room at the end of the corridor and next to suites with a massive bulk head balcony.

 

Overall, we were very pleased with the service on board. Staff were friendly and pleasant but not in your face. We are not keen on the OTT type of service which others may prefer so this suited us really well.We ate in the MDR and had fantastic service from our waiter and assistant waiter. My only observation was that they (and our stateroom attendant) seemed very anxious about the Celebrity survey and the implication that anything less than full marks has a significant impact on their gratuities.I thought this was a shame and very evident that they really rely on tips.

 

The pool areas were generally very busy and as ever mobbed on sea days. We chose to use the Solarium and on both days managed to find loungers. Pool Butlers were helping guests where loungers had been reserved for longer than 30 mins and there were 'warnings' given that your items would be taken to Guest relations!

 

We had a Premium Drinks package which we really enjoyed. We did notice quite a bit of 'hard sell' on the first day to get people to upgrade but it did not affect us and we really enjoyed the freedom to have what we wanted when we wanted it.

 

In terms of ports, we went ashore on each occasion. Apart from Santorini and Athens we did our own thing by just wandering around the town or in naples where we caught the boat to Sorrento. Doind our own thing worked really well apart from Messina which was slightly disappointing and we wished we had done a tour.

We did the half day Island Celebrity tour to Oiea, wine tasting and Fira in Santorini and it wasn't great. This was because the traffic on the island was a nightmare and we spent most of the time in the coach trying to get there, get back or in the hour long queue for the cable car on the way back. I have read other reviews where folks loved this tour so perhaps we were unlucky - it was a mad rush in the village and at the wine tasting. We did the HOHO bus in Athens from the port and it worked out well.It was so hot that day that it was good to go and see the sights and come back to the air conditioning.

 

Other points that may be of interest - the Evening Chic nights (there were 2) were on the Sunday (after Malta) and on our second sea day (Saturday) . Whilst some people did dress up, the vast majority did not and I was surprised at how casual some were. Tuxes and gowns were by far in the minority.

 

We did not go to any of the big shows but we did enjoy some of the live music - especially Rick and Zoe the guitar and vocal duo.

 

Disembarkation was very swift and we organised our own luggage as we had an early taxi.

 

Overall, a really excellent cruise which we would recommend. We booked another cruise for next summer whilst on board and are already looking forward to the Riviera and Mediterranean on Connie next Sept.

 

Lesley

 

 

Thanks Lesley. An interesting review.

We've found the survey thing in Luminae on our last two cruises! It really does make a difference to the staff! We were told that less than perfect scores can mean 'demotion' to a different restaurant!

 

Taylor D, we'll see you on board on next week because we too are on this itinery on this ship 21st July.

 

Stephen & Eileen

[Les43]

Taking the Hydrofoil to Sorrento was really easy. The ship docks right next to the port and the sailings are 9am and 11am. Trip takes around 40 minutes. On the way back you have a choice of 2pm and 4.45pm - Reflection sailed at 6pm so the later time would work. We went at 9am and came back at 2pm. The sea was fine and have been on holiday in this area many times. The issue with Capri is more that it is so busy although September may be different. The island of Ischia (next to Capri) is also worth a visit and again there are boats going there too.

[Sandyrella]

Thanks for taking the time to write your review! Did you attend your connections party and if so, can you tell me when it took place?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[vtcruising]

Thanks for the review. We will be doing this itinerary in a few weeks. Thanks for mentioning the music and telling us about Rick and Zoe. How about the guitarist - is it still Johny Mantra? If so, how was he? How was the house band and other musicians? Listening to music in the lounges is something my husband really looks forward to doing. On our last cruise on the Eclipse a few months ago, the music was pretty forgettable. Any info would be appreciated.

[wineandbeach]

We were on the June 30 cruise and Blind Vinyl was the house band. I felt they were the best house band of all my 18 cruises. One of my only complaints about Celebrity is not much goes on in the bars in Celebrity. I usually like a piano player in a lounge but couldn't find anything, but we did spend a lot of time listening to the house band. They also have a silent disco most nights - really strange thing and not for me but there was always a lot of people enjoying it so if you have never heard of it, definitely check it out. We usually went up to the Sunset bar after dinner. No entertainment but really nice and fun bartenders.

[vtcruising]

We were on the June 30 cruise and Blind Vinyl was the house band. I felt they were the best house band of all my 18 cruises. One of my only complaints about Celebrity is not much goes on in the bars in Celebrity. I usually like a piano player in a lounge but couldn't find anything, but we did spend a lot of time listening to the house band. They also have a silent disco most nights - really strange thing and not for me but there was always a lot of people enjoying it so if you have never heard of it, definitely check it out. We usually went up to the Sunset bar after dinner. No entertainment but really nice and fun bartenders.

Thanks! Hopefully Blind Vinyl will still be onboard Sept 1. :)